>I also dont really consider a response of "we promise to opensource the companion app, or unlock the device if we go out of business" viable (what if you die unexpectedly?, or simply, dont care to follow through?).
If the promise is real, they should make it legally binding. If you go bankrupt, you lose control over your IP and quite possibly can't choose to follow through.
Although, even then, open-sourcing the app can be expensive (you need lawyers to confirm you actually have the rights to open-source all parts of the relevant code, and if there's something you can't open-source then you need devs to write a shim, identify the relevant keys that need to be published, and hopefully write some documentation.
Software used to come with source code escrow licenses (a long time ago). A third party would certify that you had done the due diligence you just mentioned up front.
I’d like to see legislation requiring this for any software that a physical device needs in order to work, but I doubt that will happen any time soon. (“Right to repair” is meaningless without something at least as strong as source code escrow)
If the promise is real, they should make it legally binding. If you go bankrupt, you lose control over your IP and quite possibly can't choose to follow through.
Although, even then, open-sourcing the app can be expensive (you need lawyers to confirm you actually have the rights to open-source all parts of the relevant code, and if there's something you can't open-source then you need devs to write a shim, identify the relevant keys that need to be published, and hopefully write some documentation.